Wednesday, September 30, 2009

In the last 5-10 years, tilapia has taken-over the fish counter at supermarkets for a "mild-tasting white fish" that's economical (sometimes, as cheap as $3 per pound). I've personally been staying away from it recently because I find that it often has a background taste of dirt. It's a personal taste thing. Now, I think I know why.

It's amazing how much you can learn about your food's origin (and slowly become a hippie-foodie in the process) by watching Mike Rowe's Dirty Jobs on the Discovery Channel. While he doesn't intend to be an eco-show, he kind of ends-up exploring the foods we eat anyway. Last night, I saw an episode where he's on a fish farm in the middle of the Mohave desert.

While the farm itself had some great practices such as not releasing their dirty and medication-laden water into the ocean (they process and recycle it), I was shocked to hear about their feeding methods. This particular farm specializes in striped bass (bet you didn't know your bass came from the desert). When they're done with a pool of water, they dump-in carp and tilapia fish. Why? Because, apparently, carp and tilapia will eat other fish's poo.

You heard me right. The tilapia and carp are put into the poo-laden water as the first part of a water treatment process. Once the fish eat up to 30% of the solid matter (both poo and uneaten food) and fatten-up a bit, they're harvested and shipped-off to market with their bass buddies.

I don't think I need to even express how gross this process sounds, even if it's FDA or USDA approved for a fish I'm going to consume.

Find Recipes

Followers

Follow Me...

About The Author

My name is Justin. I'm an ordinary 30-something guy with a real passion for food but no formal culinary training. I love exploring food in my home kitchen and all that it offers. I love finding solutions to cooking challenges and sharing them with other home cooks. Cooking doesn't have to be difficult. We can all eat well working within our abilities and budgets. Join me on my food adventure!